Hello again. I’m back on the blog to re-introduce myself. This is my fave interview yet, that just went live on Women On Topp. I dig deep into, quite simply, where I’m at. I’ve been lucky enough to have had this gig for 15+ years, and OH the people (and horses) that I’ve met, the places I’ve gone…I’m beyond grateful for everything that Cowgirl Yoga has given me.

I’m launching a passion project that has become my 2025 theme: horses + mindfulness.

In the interview, I talk about the what, why and how of horses and mindfulness. After doing that, I decided to ask all the amazing horse people we are fortunate to work with on retreats – in Montana, Argentina, Sweden and Costa Rica – to answer the question: how do horses make us more mindful? Watch this space for their answers.

Hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Beyond the Mat and Into the Heart of Cowgirl Yoga

When we first met Margaret Burns Vap, she shared how, in the wide-open wilds of Montana, she built something that didn’t just ride the wave of wellness trends—it helped define them. Cowgirl Yoga began in 2007 as a heartfelt experiment, an adventurous fusion of yoga and horses long before “retreat culture” became a buzzword. What started as a bold idea to blend movement, mindfulness, and the West’s unbridled spirit has since become a way of life for many.

Now, in this follow-up, we dig deeper. (Read the first interview from March 2024 – Riding the Wave: How Margaret Burns Vap Revolutionized the Yoga Retreat Experience.) We explore the evolution of Cowgirl Yoga not just as a retreat, but as a philosophy—one that connects body, mind, horse, and heart. Margaret reflects on the serendipitous rise of equine coaching, the transformative power of slowing down, and how being a mother has shaped both her mission and her business. Through her words, it’s clear: Cowgirl Yoga isn’t about escape. It’s about coming home—to your body, to nature, to authenticity.

This isn’t your average yoga retreat. This is what happens when you “add a little yeehaw to your namaste”… and keep showing up with grit, heart, and purpose.

How has your personal connection with horses evolved over the years, and how does that influence your yoga practice today?

It actually comes down to something so simple: Yoga shifts energy. Horses also shift energy.
Therein lies the connection, the evolution, the elegant simplicity of the relationship between yoga and horses.

Horses have been my best yoga teachers. They’ve taught me to be present in my body, to pay attention to when my mind wanders, to be authentic and honest about my emotions. As humans, we are conditioned to mask a lot – in order to be polite, to conform to societal expectations, to interact in our human dramas and quite frankly, to get what we want. Think about what we’re trying to do in yoga – we’re trying to be present in the moment, to honor what comes up then vs. obsessing over the past or worrying about the future. Horses are natural yogis, because as prey animals they live in the moment. They are honest about what they are feeling. And they roll with it all and move on quickly. Us, not so much. So essentially, our yoga becomes a lifelong practice of trying to become more horse-like.

My approach to connections with horses has been very similar to my approach to yoga. I believe there is something to be learned from every yoga class and yoga teacher. To me, the optimal yoga practice explores new styles, new studios, new teachers and new modalities. Of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t have our favorites, a comfy, familiar studio/class/teacher. I travel all over the world learning from horses that make me a better rider and horsewoman. But, of course I love coming home to my horses, my comfy, familiar herd that are part of my family. And then I have something fresh and new to bring to our connections. I’ve got to believe that they appreciate that, in their equine way.

But back to the shifting of energy: with our yoga practice, we aim to shift energy in a way that results in a positive change. We want to feel better from moving energy. Yoga poses were designed to move energy, to harness the power of our breath, to help us let go of the constraints of our minds. Horses do all this naturally, by design. There are a variety of studies that attempt to demonstrate that merely being close to a horse can improve a human’s well being. There is a positive shift. You can feel it, smell it, almost taste it.

Horses have enriched my yoga practice in ways I never could have imagined. Yoga is pretty darn perfect on its own – but adding horses to the equation deepens the practice, without a doubt. I feel like horses are with me every time I step on my mat. And I can’t imagine it any other way.

Can you share a particularly powerful story of transformation from one of your retreat participants?

I took the liberty of asking Kathy Nolan, who has attended many retreats over the last few years, to share her story of transformation from her first Cowgirl Yoga retreat. Kathy now co-teaches our Cowgirl Yoga Argentina retreat with me, and we just returned from this year’s trip, where we launched a new focus on horses and mindfulness.

15 years ago, while flipping through Yoga Journal, I came across an ad for Jade Yoga mats. The photo was of a young mother and her 3 year old daughter riding a horse together with Jade mats tied to the western saddle. The fine print identified the woman as Margaret Burns Vap, owner of Big Sky Yoga Retreats in Bozeman, Montana. I thought to myself: “I am going to ride with her someday.” Many years went by and I kept that memory locked in my mind, thinking to myself, “When the time is right, I’m going to go on a retreat in Montana.” At the end of 2020, after 6 months of caring for my father as he suffered with cancer, he passed away. The strain and heartache of that time left me feeling depleted and in need of something to bring me back to life. The time had come. I contacted Margaret about attending an upcoming retreat, and I knew right away that she would become an important person in my life. There were so many commonalities in our lives. Margaret shared with me some writing she had done about yoga and grief and the loss of her brother; her brother and my mom had both passed away at the same time. Margaret and I have the same birthday ~ although 10 years apart. Our common love of horses and yoga and travel were immediately apparent, and all of that was clear before we even met. I planned to attend a retreat in Montana in May, 2021.

At the time of my arrival in Montana I was dealing with some extremely upsetting circumstances revolving around one of my sons and his mental health. At the retreat, both on the yoga mat and off, I was frequently in tears and found Margaret and her co-yoga teacher, Caitlin, to be incredibly supportive and compassionate. Margaret encouraged me to feel what I needed to feel, and also made me feel that the retreat was exactly where I needed to be at that moment. It was a very healing time for me, and a powerful experience for the other attendees.

And then came my experience bonding with the horses on that retreat. Margaret led us through exercises with the horses that I use to this day: deeply connecting and breathing with our horses, sharing calming energy with them. And the work in the round pen – one-on-one with a horse, learning to move him with our own energy and intention, and then experiencing a sense of mutual respect and trust between horse and human as the human releases pressure on the horse and the horse comes willingly to the human. Thinking about that experience of joining up with that horse, even now, brings me close to tears. The human/horse connection had never felt so real to me before. I left that retreat knowing two things for sure: that I needed to bring horses back into my life, and that Margaret and I would ride together again someday.

Upon returning home, I immediately sought out and began volunteering at an equine therapy organization near my home. I began leasing a horse at a stable nearby, started taking riding lessons again at a local barn, found horses close to home and shortly thereafter, bought my first horse, an Icelandic mare named Tulpa. All of this a direct consequence of having attended my first Cowgirl Yoga retreat with Margaret.

How has your understanding of the mind-body-horse connection deepened over the years?

The deepening has come through the same process I believe one follows with deepening a yoga practice: we come to it first craving the movement, then get a taste of the clear mind that results from linking breath and movement and focus on being present. And we realize that what is really the catalyst for positive change is the clarity of mind that comes from stillness. We think it’s the movement we want, the physical satisfaction and instant gratification of the yoga asana. But then those moments when we’re quiet and still, in savasana and meditation, those moments that maybe we avoided and didn’t like so much at first, become the epiphanies. When the mind-body connection rings true, with more clarity than you’ve ever experienced.

I came to horses with a similar agenda – to do things, to make things happen, to improve my riding, so much of this physical and achievement oriented. As with learning yoga, we want to get there – that place of proficiency – as quickly as possible, without care for the journey. Horses have stopped me in my tracks along that rushed path, as if they were saying, “hey wait a minute, look what I can show you” that doesn’t involve tack, technique, etc. – it involves something even more challenging, the ability to pause and absorb and be open and present to what is. Which is often no more than a big equine sigh at your touch, a soft, giant equine eye expressing contentment, or a deep, inner knowing that you connected with this majestic animal, your paths merged and you were one, and you’re not even sure why or how. Which of course doesn’t matter.

This is the magic. We can bring what yoga offers us to the horses, and then we realize how much they have to offer us beyond the “discipline” of whatever riding style we’ve chosen, whatever tack we’ve selected and researched, all of the “doing”. Horses are like icing on the cake of the mind-body connection. They are what deepens it.

How has the presence of horses enhanced the mindfulness and emotional regulation aspects of your retreats?

How do horses make us more mindful? Horses make us be more present (like yoga).

Mindfulness has become a wellness buzzword that only adds to yoga’s appeal. Being present has always been a major tenet of yoga, but I think that mindfulness takes that a step further, to really bring that awareness off the mat into the rest of your life. Paying attention is a good way to describe mindfulness – how often do you pay attention to the present moment and what it’s offering? Sounds so simple…yet can be so hard to do.

As previously mentioned, in Western culture we are conditioned to focus on achievement – how much is being accomplished, what am I getting out of this. What poses did I “achieve” in yoga, what did I “accomplish” in my riding lesson. This leads to disappointment if we don’t check things off our to-do list, and less satisfaction with the activity. Moving away from that mindset makes us more mindful. Simply putting your hand on a horse and feeling his warmth, his coat, his breath, taking a moment to look deeply into a horse’s huge, beautiful eye – these are pauses in the doing that allow us space to be. On retreat, we facilitate those pauses for people. It’s really all about slowing down.

Horses make us tune in to our senses, vs. numbing them.

We ask cowgirl yoginis to take note of these pauses that make us more present; we call them “savorings” and “glimmers”. They are little pieces of mindful appreciation, sights, sounds, tastes, things we want to remember. How can you savor a moment if you’re not even aware of it? You need to pause and soak it in.

If we bring people’s attention to the very presence of the horse – not just to the activity we’re doing with them – that is becoming more mindful. How do we feel in this moment, with a horse near? If we stop thinking about the upcoming ride, the weather, if we’re wearing the proper gear – what do we notice about the horse? The horse comes to us without expectations, fully engaged in his equine senses. Can we do the same? It’s a refocusing of the power of our senses to not only give us information, but to give us pleasant experiences too.

Horses ask us to be more authentic about what we’re feeling (don’t fake it til you make it).

Horses are emotionally regulating because they make us be authentic. They force us to own what we’re feeling, vs. cover it up. That is incredibly freeing. Humans value “good” emotions, and hide or suppress “bad” emotions like anger, fear, and anxiety. To horses, all emotions are information that they use to stay safe in their environment. We need to remember that we can’t be happy without knowing sadness. All emotions are valuable information, and suppressing or hiding them leads to emotional incongruity. Want to be more emotionally regulated? Be more horse-like.

When I bring someone into the round pen for an equine coaching session, I start by asking her how she’s feeling. She usually answers that question as mindlessly as we answer “how are you?” We say “fine”, because that’s what’s expected. Even if we’re not fine. In the round pen, people usually say what they want to feel – relaxed, at ease in the presence of a horse. When in reality, there is some anxiety, possibly fear. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve dug a little deeper into that first question, and when the human is honest about where she’s really at…the horse completely opens up and approaches her. It’s the equine seal of approval for being emotionally authentic.

What trends in holistic health and wellness excite you the most, and how do they align with Cowgirl Yoga’s future?

I’ve been excited to see that the topic of menopause has been getting the attention it deserves in the mainstream medical community, and in health and wellness. This is where we need to be – not stuck in the previous mentality of menopause as taboo topic, one that caused shame and so much unnecessary suffering. Add to that the cultural baggage of “older” women being viewed as irrelevant – in terms of their looks, being past child-bearing – and it is more than time for this stage of life to be recognized and honored.

As a woman in my 50s who has definitely struggled with the challenges of menopause – including having it exacerbate the challenges of my ADHD – this “trend” is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been fortunate that I already had yoga and horses as a healing and wellness foundation in my life when I experienced perimenopause, and could tell many stories of how they both got me through some hormonally-induced dark times. So this has strengthened my commitment to sharing the healing power of yoga and horses, with other women who may be struggling with menopause related issues. Stay tuned for the Cowgirl Yoga Menopause retreat! I jest, but you get the idea. I hope to offer equine coaching that specifically addresses menopause. I just read an article about menopause retreats that stated what I view as the obvious: what price can be put on a group of women who have come together to focus on wellness, to share stories and feel seen and listened to? Menopausal or not…that trend is here to stay, and I am very glad to be part of it.

The menopause trend dovetails with aging well, wellness aging, anti-anti aging. We need to teach our daughters not to fear aging and menopause, that every stage of their life is meaningful. That the goal is not looking younger, but being healthy and feeling great, so you can do the things that make you happy at any age. Like yoga and horses.

As with all wellness trends, the volume of information out there can be overwhelming. If I had to pick one resource for women navigating perimenopause and menopause, it would be everything that Dr. Marie Claire Haver has to offer, particularly her book The New Menopause.

How do you balance the retreat experience between structured activities and allowing space for personal transformation?

That has definitely been an evolution. I love a full schedule…and I always want to ensure plenty of what people sign up for. However, as I’ve mentioned numerous times, we are a culture of doing vs. being. So it has become very important on a retreat that centers around cultivating wellbeing to offer “rest stops” in between horses and yoga, so that there is time to soak up and process those experiences. Because the takeaway is not just what you did – it’s what it awakened in you. We need to make rest and reflection an integral part of our value system.

For those who absolutely must do something, we offer vision boards, horse coloring books, and lots of journaling ideas. Quiet, creative “doing” that supports “being”.

As we are freshly home from our Cowgirl Yoga Argentina retreat, I asked a few women to share their thoughts on this:

Personal transformation is inevitable on a retreat and the structured activities are a big part of that, especially when it comes to the mindfulness exercises. I for one came home more “horselike”, finding connection and confidence in being more vulnerable. In the spaces between activities, in the pause, it all settles into place more deeply. Activities are optional too. I chose not to do yoga the last morning and to take a walk alone because I needed that space and had a very memorable moment to myself that I otherwise would not have experienced.
– Melissa

I think of retreats like a container. I appreciate the opportunity to add structured activities to my container, knowing I get to decide how many and which ones. What happens inside the container with all those ingredients is the personal transformation. Not only through the activities but in the space, silence and stillness in between them. That balance and mix is unique to each of us. I appreciate Margaret’s ability to provide the ingredients and also give us permission to create our own mix.
– Mandy

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about Cowgirl Yoga, and how do you address them?

I have to answer this one just for fun. Of course, people’s first impression of Cowgirl Yoga is doing yoga on horses. While I admit to the occasional photo doing yoga on a horse…that is absolutely not what we do, since it’s actually not very beneficial for either horse or human.

Rather than yoga on horseback, it’s bringing the energy shifts from yoga – in mind and body, and particularly our breath – to our time with horses. It’s breathing deeper in the presence of a horse, matching your breath to his. It’s cracking your heart open to everything that you are, every thing that you feel, and using that to create connection between horse and human.

Most of all, it’s adding a little Yeehaw to your Namaste.